Not by Accident by Samantha Dunn Reconstructing a Careless Life

A nearly fatal riding accident forces a young woman to examine just what it is inside herself-and other people-that invites carelessness and injury.

"God touches us with a feather to get our attention. Then, if we don't listen, he starts throwing bricks."

While leading her horse across a narrow creek in the canyons of California, Samantha Dunn suffered a life-threatening accident as her horse inadvertently jumped on her leg, splitting it open and severing vital muscles and veins. Had a stranger not happened upon the scene, it's doubtful she would have survived.

This wasn't the first such incident-although it was the most serious-in a life filled with carelessness, risk-taking, and injuries. In this reflective yet humorous memoir, Dunn takes the reader through the stages of her long and painful recovery, the most important of which involved serious self-examination. A pattern of accidents, she learned, indicates other deeper issues bubbling below the surface. This last, near-fatal episode was a subconscious wake-up call to pay attention to everything she had been looking away from: her horse, who had shown clear signs of panic, and especially her complicated past and home life-including her seriously troubled marriage.

Dunn got back on the horse-literally and figuratively. How she did it makes for an entertaining, touching, and insightful book, memoir at its best.

Publishers Weekly

Freelance writer and novelist Dunn (Failing Paris) spent the better part of her first 32 years as an "accident prone" person, though it took nearly losing a leg after being trampled by her beloved horse to realize it.